2008 Woodie Awards
A spartan spoof
by Sean Flanders
Issue date: 1/31/08
Section: Movies
"Meet the Spartans" is essentially "300" meets "Family Guy:" the film's practically a scene-for-scene remake of the modern sword-and-sandal flick, except with physical comedy, gross-out humor and pop culture references inserted at every opportunity.
Because the movie recreates the plot almost to the letter, seeing "300" beforehand isn't necessary to enjoy this film. Being a "300" virgin will mean missing out on a lot of funny references, but the story is still easy to follow, and the most heavily parodied moments should be familiar to anyone who's seen even a couple of the commercials for "300": half-naked Spartans kicking people into pits, fighting blue-screen armies and much shouting.
Most of these parodies are pretty good. "300" is such a melodramatic film, "Meet the Spartans" barely has to change anything to make the characters over-the-top ridiculous, and the random intrusions of modern day pop culture are usually good for some quick laughs. The only real problem is that there aren't enough of these gags. Most of the jokes get dragged out for a lot longer than they should be, rather than coming at the audience in a rapid fire "Airplane" style.
Combined with a running time of only 84 minutes, and "Meet the Spartans" doesn't seem quite worth the admission price, but is worth renting when it comes out on DVD.
THE GRADE: C
Mix "300" and "Family Guy" and you get "Meet the Spartans."
Sean Flanders is a Reporter staff writer
Because the movie recreates the plot almost to the letter, seeing "300" beforehand isn't necessary to enjoy this film. Being a "300" virgin will mean missing out on a lot of funny references, but the story is still easy to follow, and the most heavily parodied moments should be familiar to anyone who's seen even a couple of the commercials for "300": half-naked Spartans kicking people into pits, fighting blue-screen armies and much shouting.
Most of these parodies are pretty good. "300" is such a melodramatic film, "Meet the Spartans" barely has to change anything to make the characters over-the-top ridiculous, and the random intrusions of modern day pop culture are usually good for some quick laughs. The only real problem is that there aren't enough of these gags. Most of the jokes get dragged out for a lot longer than they should be, rather than coming at the audience in a rapid fire "Airplane" style.
Combined with a running time of only 84 minutes, and "Meet the Spartans" doesn't seem quite worth the admission price, but is worth renting when it comes out on DVD.
THE GRADE: C
Mix "300" and "Family Guy" and you get "Meet the Spartans."
Sean Flanders is a Reporter staff writer
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
danny clark
posted 2/05/08 @ 2:09 AM CST
I firmly disagree with your opinions on this movie. the movie to me seemed completely unoriginal and just like every other spoof movie out there (scary movies 1-3, date movie) i don't know why i would want to rent it. (Continued…)
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